Columbia Anti-Israel Activist Ordered Deported

A federal immigration judge on Wednesday ordered the deportation of Mohsen Mahdawi, an anti-Israel activist and Columbia University graduate who has become a target of the Trump administration’s crackdown on foreign students accused of supporting terrorist organizations. 

Mahdawi, a Vermont resident originally from the Judea and Samaria area, was ordered removed to Jordan after abandoning his asylum claim, according to Politico. He has appealed the ruling to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit. 

The activist first drew national attention in March 2025 when Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents arrested him during a citizenship interview.

Two weeks later, a district court judge released Mahdawi. In February 2026, his deportation case was dismissed, but the federal government appealed the decision.

In April, the Board of Immigration Appeals reinstated removal proceedings against Mahdawi, according to a letter from his attorneys obtained by Politico. After Mahdawi abandoned his asylum claim, an immigration judge ordered him removed from the United States.

According to the American Civil Liberties Union, the Trump administration argued that Mahdawi’s activism was “harmful to U.S. foreign policy.”

Mahdawi attended Columbia University, where he co-founded the Palestinian Student Union with Mahmoud Khalil, another anti-Israel activist detained and facing deportation, according to Politico. 

“I come from a refugee camp in Palestine, where my family still resides. I know what it means to live without rights, without voice, without safety. America was the first place I ever felt true freedom and dignity,” Mahdawi said in a statement. 

“For over a decade, I have built my life here, loved this community, and chosen this country’s ideals as my own. When a government weaponizes immigration to punish speech, millions of immigrants and citizens feel that blow,” he added. 

Mahdawi’s detention was part of a broader Trump administration effort targeting foreign college students accused of expressing support for designated terrorist organizations. The State Department has also revoked thousands of student visas.

The administration is separately pursuing the deportation of Khalil.

“Khalil led activities aligned to Hamas, a designated terrorist organization,” then-DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin announced last year.

“It is a privilege, not a right, to be in this country to live or to study,” she added. “And if you are pushing propaganda that relishes the killings of Americans or promotes terrorists, the door’s that way.”